How To Make No Sew Shabby Chic Swag

Looking for something a little different for window treatments?  Learn how to make no sew chabby chic swag (or valance) – it’s quick, easy, and very fun to do!

I like to do things a little differently than the average norm, let’s just say the cookie cutter mold doesn’t fit me very well.  I seek conversational pieces – antiques, vintage, DIY items (like our DIY plate covers or using mailer ads as wrapping paper), anything that will make an individual go “Ohhhhh!!!! (excited Ohhhh) or ohhhhh (this is the I don’t know what you were thinking ohhhh)….”.  Whichever ohhhh that I receive I achieved what I set out to do, which is to create something that reflects who I am.

Recently my mother-in-law and I attend an antique/crafting fair and quite a few vendors had these adorable fabric swags.  The uses for them were endless – seasonal décor, valances, nesting box curtains (of course that’s what my mind thinks of!).

Again, making the window (nesting box curtains) swag is EXTREMELY easy, and the fun begins with picking out the fabric.  It can be as subtle or as colorful as you’d like, and honestly selecting fabric is like picking wild flowers in the pasture…there are so many options!

There’s no surprise here, I went with chickens, teal, and the same shade of green as our kitchen wall.  The amount of material you need depends on how thick you’d like your valance to be.  I used a 1:1 ratio, 1 yard of material for every foot that was needed.

Your next step is going to be to cutting the fabric into strips.  There is no science to this, cut the strips as wide or as narrow as you’d like, making the strips as long as you need.  For this project we cut the chicken fabric 3 inches wide, the flower pattern 1 inch wide, the white lace was between 1/2″ to 1″ wide, and the burlap I cut in various lengths.

The fabric will be tied to twine.  I personal feel the thicker the twine the better it works.  We picked up this iron twine holder at a small hardware store here in Wa state, but if you are interested a similar one can be found here.

There are two options in which you can tie the fabric to the twine.  I used the loop through method, and love the way it looks.  The simple method of tying the material to the twine works nicely too.  I also found it easier to tie the material lightly and then slide it into place, tightening it once it was in its proper spot.

I wanted the swag to look full, and by keeping the strips tight allowed for this.

My little farm girl kept me company while helping to get the job done, she is definitely one of the best assistants around!

And that’s all she wrote and I love how it looks!  I went for the rustic thrown together look, but your edge can be made even and a bit more orderly.  I will be making another soon – red, white, and blue as part of our 4th of July decor.

Remember, have fun with it, you truly can’t mess this up!

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